Overcoming DoubtSample

No One Has Perfect Faith

Theologian John Calvin once said, “We are all partly unbelievers through our lives,” meaning that all Christians wrestle with doubts and unbelief through the years, seasons, and trials of life. You might imagine the perfect Christian as someone who never doubts or questions their beliefs, but belief in Jesus isn’t based on certainty - it’s based on rational faith. None of us have the certainty the disciple Thomas had when he touched the risen Jesus’s wounds with his own hands. What we do have is the invitation to trust John’s account of that encounter and to believe in Jesus today.

Faith isn’t simply blind trust, and the Christian faith isn’t blind faith. There is plenty of evidence that points to a historical Jesus. It’s broadly accepted that an actual man named Jesus lived, taught, and ministered throughout the region of Galilee. Even the explicitly Christian claims of Jesus’s divinity, death, and resurrection have strong evidence behind them. Investigate the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are many arguments for their legitimacy and authority as actual accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus. There are even first-century historians like Josephus and Tacitus. They were not Christians but still attested to the existence of Jesus and the claims of his followers.

There are so many faith-building truths to investigate and explore. If your doubts hinge less on the existence of Jesus and more on God’s goodness or existence because of the suffering in the world, then investigate the arguments of presuppositional apologetics. Many Christian authors and thinkers help us make sense of the goodness of God and the problem of evil (called “theodicy”). Don’t be afraid to dig in. Allow your questions and doubts to drive you to investigate the truth rather than give up.

In seasons of doubt, it’s important to remember this: We have been saved by grace through faith. And as we grow in our faith, we may not be perfect, but we will always be loved. There is only one person who has lived with perfect faith - Jesus. For the rest of us, there’s Scripture’s promise that He will continue His faith-perfecting work in us as we pursue Him.

Thought of the Day: I will live by faith, and I will trust Jesus to continue to grow and perfect the imperfect faith in me.

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